I can't stop drinking wine

Depends on how much you’re drinking really and whether it’s an addiction or not. I was drinking daily but managed to cut it to weekends (apart from holidays when it creeps up again). I now find I really enjoy having a cup of tea in bed during the week and sleep much better. But I do still enjoy a drink at the weekend. Although every so often I take the weekend off now as well and I feel so much better for it. I was probably drinking around 35 units a week which was terrible in hindsight, down to between 10 and 20 now. So still not great especially by mumsnet standards but much better I feel.

Yes. Stop buying it for a start. If its there you will drink it. If you give in and drink start again the next day.

It's not nonsense. Going cold turkey if you're an extremely heavy drinker is very dangerous. This (probably) doesn't apply to the OP though.

I used to think alcohol helped me sleep, but actually I slept terribly. I started having Bedtime Tea made by Yorkshire Tea instead and a couple of biscuits. I sleep loads better and it does have a sedative effect. Stopping drinking, you'll have a few terrible nights. Be prepared for it, it's withdrawal. You'll have to push past it.
I can't even drink a bottle of wine now. 4-5 units is my maximum before I wake in the middle of the night sweating and with a racing heart.

If you want to stop then the only person who can do it is you. Don't buy wine so there is none in the house and buy a drink for the evening you do enjoy that's non alcoholic eg I get a box of nice teas in. It won't be easy at first but will be ok fairly quickly

If it’s just about sleep Nytol is fantastic to bridge the gap.

Sorry NRTFT

Have you tried having Rose with lemonade?
My friend made me try it and it was lovely!

It may help you reduce your intake, without feeling like you’re denying yourself any.

Have the same amount of glasses as you normally do but half fill them with lemonade.

Its also cheaper, less calories and you’ll feel better in the morning.

I hope you come back to the thread because you’ve done well even posting and this is nothing to feel ashamed of.

There are some very supportive threads in the alcohol support section. We'd happily welcome you along #browniesnotbeer

I think we need more info, OP. Is your thread title hyperbole or do you really feel like you can’t stop? Because if it is the latter, the quantity isn’t actually particularly relevant, although of course larger amounts will have a bigger impact on your physical health. With the limited info you’ve given it’s hard to know whether you’re addicted or stuck in a bad habit.

If you really feel like you cannot stop, or you’ve tried and failed, then I would speak with your GP in the first instance and go from there. They can help with the sleep, too.

@Beepybopp can you tell me where to get melatonin online have been looking for ages

Why on earth would it be damaging to stop abruptly. Nonsense. Sounds like and excuse someone made if you read it somewhere.

Get non alcoholic wine from the shop. For me it’s the feeling of having wine in a wine glass, and sitting down with it - I can do that with non alcoholic version and feel great next day.

That's incredible! Can I ask, did you go cold turkey, or cut down gradually? I've heard it can be damaging to stop abruptly but can't remember where I read that.

OP, it’s very easy for people to tell
you to ‘just stop’, but that’s not going to help the root of the problem. You’ve got into a bad cycle, do you have a reason why it started? Was it stress, anxiety? I very likely have ADHD, I only sleep solidly when I’ve had a couple of glasses of something. Obviously that is not an option (as you are finding), but I spend a week powering through about 5 hours broken sleep a night. On a Saturday night I can have couple of glasses of wine guilt free. Do you think you can find a way of being more moderate? I’d absolutely look into help if you can.

Dont buy any. If it's not there you cant drink it

Just get some will power and stop. Do something else.

Congratulations. You've done amazingly well.

This is good advice but if you really need all these coping strategies then you already have a problem.

Yes, simple as it sounds, definitely 100% this.

When you are in good mental health, (say in the middle of the day before the urge gets the better of you) put as many barriers between yourself and getting wine as possible - can you put your credit card in the shed in the garden say, if you were tempted to run to the corner shop and buy some? Anything that gives you time to think before you get hold of, then open another bottle?

Buy a lovely candle or face mask to relax with instead.

line up some amazing tv shows to get sleepy in front of, or a great book

Cook yourself something you really love

You just need to one night without it. This is a one day at a time thing. Each day is a new chance. We believe in you xx

You absolutely can stop. There are loads and loads of women (and men) who have been where you are. And actually alcohol causes all sorts of issues with your sleep - it’s not helping you fall asleep and it will really negatively impact your quality of sleep and how rested you feel. If sleep is the issue, take a small nytol before bed for a few days so you adjust. It’s perfectly safe for short term use. I got the 25mg tablets and snapped them in half, as it was just enough to give me the extra reassurance that I could sleep.

When I stopped (I was drinking 2-3 bottles of wine a night every night), what I did was replace it with another nice drink in the evening. Kombucha is great if you want something low sugar.

And short term I filled my evenings with something else, a class, exercise, a hike, reading, listening to a podcast, literally I dumped the dc with Dh and did whatever I needed to do to keep myself healthy and happy. I’m coming up to 18 months sober now.

I'm the same OP. If there's a bottle of wine in the fridge, I drink it. Usually all of it. If there's no wine, I don't drunk. There's a variety of gin, and red wine, in the house that I rarely touch.

I've just nit bought any for the past few days. I realised my face looks puffy, my eyes look awful. I need to lose weight so cutting wine out will help.

How much do you actually drink? A small glass of wine a night is fine whereas a bottle is worrying. Are you actually hungry and reaching for a glass of wine out of habit? Try having a soft drink and some nibbles or a few crisps. Then take a magnesium tablet an hour before going to bed (chelated magnesium from H and B is good). Magnesium is known as nature's sedative and helps you sleep.

Be careful your drinking does not bring on permanent dizziness i.e. vertigo. In many cases the cause of vertigo is not known - there are more than one kind of vertigo but they all have the dizziness, lack of balance etc.

Exactly this. You have created a sleep association which you need to break. You need to find a new one (mine is listening to certain audiobooks) and ride out the lack of sleep for a few weeks.

Worth noting that the quality of your sleep will be far better if you don’t drink. You may fall asleep more easily, but you won’t be sleeping as deeply or as well during the night and it creates a vicious cycle of being desperate to get sleep so you drink, but then being tired because the drink means you aren’t properly rested.

Good luck in tackling this, OP. If you are not already addicted, you will sadly become so if you carry on like this.